Early Christian Rome

One of the greatest benefits of studying at the BSR is making new friends, and together visiting places I otherwise wouldn't have. Miss Malta Charlene took me to this early Christian church and filled me in on the details as we wandered about the centrally planned structure.
Santa Costanza is an Imperial mausoleum in Rome that was later dedicated as a church (in Italian it is known both as Mausoleo di Santa Costanza and Chiesa di Santa Costanza).




The round mausoleum was probably built in the 360s or 370s. Despite its name, the mausoleum of Santa Costanza was probably built for Constantine's younger sister Helena, who was married to the Emperor Julian "the Apostate" (ruled 361-63).


As the daughter, sister and wife of three separate emperors (Constantius, Constantine, Julian), Helena had considerable status and it makes sense that she would receive a burial place of great splendor. The mausoleum's columns were reused from Roman structures and its mosaics (many still intact) reflect both pagan and Christian imagery.




JC bathes in god-light in the centre of the church, while the Italian guide speaks to her group. You can tell she is speaking because her hand is blurry in the photo, which means it's in motion.



I photographed this "Mary of the Grotto" on a BSR trip to Caprarola to see the Palazzo Farnese. It is not of the Early Christian period, but she is an early Christian...one might even say the first Christian.


After the austere beauty of an Early Christian church, marble clad baroque churches like this one tend to look a little tacky; but you gotta love the star light halo. Mary's got bling, and she is not afraid to flaunt it.

Musei Capitolini

Lupa Capitolina (Capitoline Wolf): According to mythology Romulus and Remus were nursed by a she-wolf after being left on the River Tiber's banks. The twin sons of the god Mars and priestess Rhea Silvia are said to have later founded Rome on the Palatine in 753 BC. The brothers ended up fighting over who should be in charge of the city, a power struggle which ended only after Romulus killed his brother. This Etruscan bronze is dated stylistically to about 500-480 BC. The bronze figures of the twins were added in the late 15th century. One of the city's most enduring images, La Lupa can be seen all over Rome: on AS Roma t-shirts, inside things you shake-to-snow, on keychains, postcards, etc.

Mythical Roman cave unearthed
Italian archaeologists say they have found the long-lost underground grotto where ancient Romans believed a female wolf suckled the city's twin founders.
This story that came out while I was in Rome, to read it go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7104330.stm



The Capitoline Museums are a group of art and archeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the famous Capitoline Hill. The collection is vast and there must be a thousand heads if you were to try and count them.





The creation of the Capitoline Museums has been traced back to 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated a group of bronze statues of great symbolic value to the People of Rome. The collections are closely linked to the city of Rome, and most of the exhibits come from the city itself. The Lupa, and this Boy with the Thorn are two from the Pope Sixtus IV group.


The Boy with the Thorn, Greco-Roman (Roman copy of the lost 3rd century BCE Hellenistic original), was celebrated in the early Renaissance; and was one of the first Roman sculptures to be copied by artists. It remains a bit of a mystery as to who the boy might be, or why such an unglamourous act was immortalized in a statue? The naturalism and realism in this sculpture help connect us to the ancient world because we imagine he could a boy from any time or place. It helps us to see that when it comes down to simple events like stepping on a thorn, today's Wii kids aren't much different from the kids who used to sneak into Gladiator fights.
On a slightly different tangent, I also think this sculpture represents a valid argument against the idea that naturalism began in the early Renaissance.


Look up, there she is again! However, this time La Lupa has taken notice that she is suckling two young alpha males.

Foro Italico...Duce Duce Duce!

Foro Italico is a sports complex in Rome. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini. It was inspired by the Roman Forums of the Imperial age.


Mussolini built the sports center to encourage young Italians to keep both bodies and mind fit (and faithful to the Fascist regime). As such, the track and the tennis court were embellished with colossal marble sculptures of athletes who preside over all athletic efforts while showing off their fine physiques.


Statues of athletes in the Stadio dei Marmi.



The partially covered Stadio Olimpico is a later addition built for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. It was here, on December 12, that I saw Manchester United play AS Roma. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.




I wonder how Il Duce would have dealt with these skateboarders? Maybe their physical activity would have been encouraged. Skateboard Fascists, what a scary concept.



This image was favoured by Benito Mussolini who cast himself as the founder of the "New Rome". Mussolini used the mythology of ancient Rome to promote nationalist fervour.I think this was a large part of his appeal in a time when the country was struggling and fractured.



It was nice to see a little hometown mythology underfoot.



In addition to the promotion of sport, many of the mosaic images idealise the worker.



At the BSR I was part of Cian's Blood Wizards choir. This performance was at the opening of the exhibition (monstra) "Party at the American Academy". Confusing title, yes, but there was artistic logic behind it.




In addition singing (badly) as a Blood Wizard, my neighbour Harri had me play the part of a cow in: Morte de Roma, the life and death of Pasolini, told through the narrative of the abbatoir and Dante's Inferno.

The Angels and the Martyrs

Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
(St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs)

The Angels and the Martyrs predate the Sharks and the Jets, the Mods and the Rockers, and the Greasers and the Socs by hundreds of years, and yet have failed to produce a great motion picture soundtrack. However, to their credit, the basilica seen here was built in their honour, inside the frigidarium of the ancient Roman Baths of Diocletian. According to a Wiki article, Michelangelo Buonarroti worked from 1563 to 1566 to adapt a section of the remaining structure of the baths to enclose a church. That would mean he worked on it from the age of 88 until he died at 89, and then for another two years after his death! So, if you were not already amazed that he created David at age 27, then maybe the fact that he continued to work after his death will impress you. At Santa Maria degli Angeli Michelangelo archieved an unexampled sequence of shaped architectural spaces with few precedents or followers. As you can see, there is no true facade. The simple entrance is set within one of the coved apses of a main space of the thermae. It is located in close proximity to the Rome's Termini train station, which takes its name from the thermal baths (latin: thermae); not from the latin terminus, as I always thought, incorrectly, as it were. It is remarkable that such an important church escaped renovation during the baroque period. If the architect had been someone other than Michelangelo, it would probably have been 'updated' with a 'proper' marble facade.



The bronze doors were created by Igor Mitoraj. He is a Polish artist born in Oederan, Germany in 1944. Having previously worked with terracotta and bronze, he set up a studio in Pietrasanta in 1983, (following a trip to Carrara, Italy in 1979) and now uses marble as his primary medium. In 2006, he created the new bronze doors and a marble statue of John the Baptist for the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome.

I really like this church because so many of the threads that weave present day Rome with its past are visible here. The wall supports and vast scale are from Ancient Rome, Michelangelo's enclosure of the space is late Renaissance, and the new entrance doors are Post-modern. Nevertheless, you cannot help but sweep aside the historical facts and simply be awed by the beauty of the vast, divinely proportioned space.


If your back is facing to the front doors of the Angeli, you look onto Piazza della Repubblica (where, fyi, you can get great Sicilian cannoli if you are tiring of the Roman fare). Far from capturing it, this photo serves to remind me of the magic of wintertime twilight in the north. Having now travelled most of my way around the globe, I can say without exception that the light I saw in Italy in November and December was the most beautiful.



Not far from the Angeli is Palazzo Massimo, one of the many branches of the National Museum of Rome. It was renovated recently and the new space shows off its impressive collection of ancient Greek and Roman beautifully. I was really excited to finally meet this Boxer, having been captivated by a photo of his hands for some time now. He is sometimes called the Terme Boxer, and is a Hellenistic Greek sculpture from the first century B.C.

Villa Borghese

Villa Borghese is a park in Rome, not a large and luxurious home as the name seems to suggest. In addition to being home to the BSR and numerous other academies, it is the home to many museums, monuments and trees.


In a landscaped park like Villa Borghese, nature always seems to find a way to beautify the man-made elements.


This is one of my favourite sculptures in the park. The Emperor William II of Germany erected this Monument to Goethe (by Gustav Eberlein), where he is shown with Mignon, Iphigeneia and Faust. 1902-04

Palazzo Barberini

La Maddalena (1501) tempera su tavola cm. 72,5x76 | Piero di Cosimo

This is just one of the many brilliant artworks on display in the Palazzo Barberini. There are too many to write about here, but if you are interested in seeing more, you should visit the museum's Italian website http://www.galleriaborghese.it/barberini/it/default.htm
This is the only one I managed to snap, just out of the guards' line of sight. I was especially interested in this rather androgynous looking Mary Magdalene because I was reading Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex at the time. This seated figure has a static pose that hearkens back to Piero della Francesca (who I love) and slighted elongated proportions that foretell later paintings by Bronzino (who I also love, and if you are interested - and you should be... "if not now, for your life"- you can see great pieces by both these artists at the Frick in New York).

In another room there is a very different interpretation of Mary's penitence by Guido Cagnacci. Since I could not photograph it, I wrote out the description:

Guido Cagnacci (1601-1663)
St. Mary Magdelene Penitent, 86 x 72 cm
dating to the 1620's.
Exhausted by her physical pain, with no strength left, Magdelene's head has fallen backwards and she has interrupted her penitence; the scourge has fallen from her right hand while her left hand is holding the skull in her lap. Cagnacci's artistic experience in Venice and Bologna, where he worked with Guido Reni, blends with Caravaggio's realism and is reflected in the painting; rather than tarnishing the soft sensuality of the nude, enhances it.

These contrasting depictions of (St.) Mary Magdalene Penitent at the Barberini transcend the biblical story, and speak to the complex nature of the human condition. Beyond their historical relevance as religious propaganda, these paintings are important because they provide a window into a world where anybody, not just Roman Catholics, can reflect on loss and desire. And, individually, they appear to be ahead of their time: the northern/Flemish-looking Piero di Cosimo is pre-Bronzino, proto-Mannerist; while the Baroque Cagnacci has an eroticism and immediacy true to the period, but much brighter lighting that gives it a more modern, Romantic quality.

To date, I have not been able to find a reproduction of this image, not even in the BSR's vast library.
(n.b. Much to my surprise, I did find a Cleopatra by Cagnacci at Calcutta's Asiatic Society)

I must admit, it irks me when I can't take a photo in a museum of an artwork that is otherwise unavailable. In my ideal world, all the works in the museum would be available for purchase in the museum shop and/or online; and no cameras would be allowed in the galleries. This way, reproductions of the images are available is you want them, and the viewing experience wouldn't be disrupted by the idiots who haven't figured out how to turn off their camera's flash. Plus, there is the philosophical argument that trying to see and record an image at the same time isn't possible: that the viewfinder or 2.5" LCD screen is collapsing the true size and effect of the image simultaneous to the eye's unadulterated perception of the said image.

Nevertheless, it is hard to be upset by the 'no photo' policy when you find yourself standing in a room in a palace with two remarkable Caravaggios, and the only other person there is the guard sitting in his chair. Magnifico! Such is the beauty of being in Rome mid-November to mid-December: fewer tourists in the galleries, glorious winter light, and cool, crisp air that results in the beautiful Roman women wearing scarves and gloves, that somehow, as improbable and impossible as it may be, makes them even sexier. Che bella!


One of the bigger realisations from my time in Rome was that this city is very much a 20th and 21st century city. Despite the weight its glorious past throws about like wide-eyed Christians to hungry lions, Rome continues to forge forward and create new places and spaces for the dissemination of culture. Palazzo delle Esposizioni is one such place. It the largest interdisciplinary exhibition area in the centre of Rome and while I was there had three distinct, yet important and engaging exhibitions: retrospectives on Stanley Kubrick, Mark Rothko and Gregory Crewdson. The Kubrick show provided an amazing look at the various aspects of his creative genius; from technical innovator to master story teller. The exhibition catalogue looked to be one of the more impressive volumes on Kubrick, and a must have for fans. It can be found through his official website: http://www.stanleykubrick.de/eng.php?img=img-l-2&kubrick=katalog-eng

Piazza del Popolo

One of the things that makes Rome such an amazing city are its many piazzas/piazzi. When you descend from the BSR down through the Villa Borghese park to the northern gate of the Aurelian Walls, once the Porta Flaminia of ancient Rome, and now called Porta del Popolo, you will find yourself in Piazza del Popolo. The name in modern Italian literally means "piazza of the people", but historically it derives from the poplars (populus in Latin, pioppo in Italian) after which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in the northeast corner of the piazza, takes its name.


Inside there are two fantastic paintings by Carravaggio. This one is called Conversion on the Way to Damascus (Conversione di San Paolo) and was painted in 1601. The painting depicts the moment recounted in Chapter 9 of Acts of the Apostles when Saul, soon to be the apostle Paul, fell on the road to Damascus. He heard the Lord say "I am Jesus, whom you persecute, arise and go into the city." According to the Scotman Billy Connolly, JC's appearance was accompanied by a blinding blast of light and Paul's reaction to this was the first ever utterance of the F-word.


This is just one of the many beautiful sculptures that fill this church.


This skull and bones motif, here in cast bronze and imbedded in the marble floor, can also be seen outside in the piazza on the clothing and jewelery worn by the young Italian Goth and Metal kids who like to hang out there.

The BSR

In the middle of November I settled in at for a six week stay at The British School at Rome (http://www.bsr.ac.uk/). The BSR is an educational institute for the study of awarded British scholars in the fields of archaeology, literature, music, and history of Rome and Italy of every period, and also the study of the fine arts and architecture. Located in the elegant Parioli district, the main structure of the British School at Rome was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, as a copy of the west front of St Paul's cathedral, for the British Pavilion at the International Exhibition held in Rome in 1911 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the unification of Italy.
In addition to the awarded scholars, there are others, like me, there to see and study in Rome while working on their own projects. My time there was relatively short, but it was long enough to fall in love with Rome and become more aware of its many layers. I was fortunate to have a great group of scholars and artists in residence while I was there. In addition to eating together in the dining room and enjoying the occasional "modest nightcap" in front of the fire, these new friends enriched my Roman experience in wonderful and unexpected ways.


This is the view looking out from the top steps of the BSR, as would be seen by Chris S. in the top picture, as he strikes his best Rocky Balboa pose after a run in the park. Those buildings you see are the Academies of other countries including Romania, Egypt, Sweden and Denmark. The Spanish and the incredibly posh American Academies are on the other side of the city near trendy Trastevere. Unfortunately there is no Canadian Academy in Rome.


This is the new Fiat 500, known as the cinquecento, with the BSR in the background. (for Nigel)




I am including this here because my friend Lisa G recently asked me "What the best thing you have purchased?" and this is what came to my mind. It is a magnet with St. Christopher and Brigitte Bardot. I assume the magnet was intended to be attached to the dashboard of a car, since back when Brigitte was making movies most dashboards were made of metal, and because St. Christopher is the patron saint of travel. He is usually represented like he is here, with little JC on his shoulders, much like how Luke carried Yoda. I happened upon it at a Sunday market not far from the BSR. It is special because it is relevant to the work I am doing this year, as it neatly brings together cinema, religion and travel in one kitschy package. Brigitte Bardot was the star of Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt, which was filmed at Cinecitta in Rome, and is one of the reasons I chose to stay in Rome for an extended period of time.


This is a toy car that one of the vendors at the same market gave me. This small act of kindness by an unknown Italian lady completed a lovely day out in the streets and markets of Rome on a perfectly clear, cool fall day. Being given this little toy reminded me of visiting my Grandma and my sweet Italian Aunts with my Mom when I was a little boy. Ummm, now I want homemade Italian cookies, and gnocchi with meatballs. (Mom, you know what I want to eat when I come home. I am arriving on a Sunday specifically so you would have time to prepare dinner for us!)


Here the same car, looking over my window ledge from my room at the BSR.


This cute little Italian car belongs to the BSR's beautiful archivist.


If we look inside, we can see who she has on top of her gear shift.
(that wasn't intended to sound lewd, forgive me lord)